Cross-index.



No. 7|0,779. Patented Oct. 7, I902. R. L. HUNTER.

CROSS INDEX.

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ROBERT L. HUNTER, OF CLEVELAND, OlIlO.

CROSSJNDEX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,779, dated October '7, 1902.

Application filed March 1,1901.

To all 10. 1.0171, if; may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT L. HUNTER, of the city of Clevelanihcounty of Ouyahoga,an d State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cross-Indexes, 'of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in card-indexes, and particularly to a card-index by means of which cross-re fereucing and cross-indexing is made possible.

The object of my invention is to provide a device that will be capable of use either as a simple card-index or as a card and cross index and to provide improved means for retaining the cards employed in the index.

My invention consists, primarily, in the combination of a box or tray of considerably greater width than the cards to be employed therein, with a plurality of slots provided in the bottom of said box and a number of cards each provided with one or more lugs adapted to lit into said slots, whereby certain cards may be held in desired transverse relations to other cards in the box.

My invention also consists in the combination ,with the box or tray and the cards therein, of a locking device which is equally valuable when the device is used as a simple card-index or as a card and cross index and which will hold the cards in one or many transverse positions.

Further, my invention consists in the combination,with the aforesaid box,'of a non-perforated index-card,- the whole surface of the card being thus made available for receiving information.

My invention also consists in certain details of construction and combination, more particularly described and pointed out in the following specification.

Ihave illustrated my invention by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying my invention. Fig. 52 is a plan view thereof, showing the cards employed placed in various transverse positions. Fig. 3 is a sectional view onthe line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a'sectional view looking toward the rear of the box and showing a corrugated-.

metal bottom. Fig. 5 shows the type of cards employed. Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the Serial No. 9,423. (N0 model.)

follower forholding the cards, and Figs. 'Zand S are enlarged detail views of the method of hinging and securing the lockingrod employed.

In the drawings, 2 is a box or tray of the type ordinarily used in card-indexes, composed of the front 3, the back 4-, the sides 5 5, and the bottom (3. The bottom 6 of the box has a plurality of slots or grooves 7 running lengthwise of the box and adapted toreceive corresponding projections on the. cards. These slots or grooves are formed in pairs, the slots of each pair being on opposite sides of the middle line of the bottom, and are parallel to each other and to the sides of the box. The slots in each set are preferably about oneeighth of an inch Wide and equally deep and are separated by ribs about an eighth of an inch wide. The slottedbottom may be made of wood. The slots may be cut therein by a saw or other suitable means, or, as shown in Fig. 4, the bottom-may be made of corrugated metal pressed or rolled into the desired shape and riveted to the sides and ends of the box. In conjunction with these slots I employ a special type of card 8, which has a pair of lugs or tongues 9 9 with substantially parallel sides on the lower edge thereof, each adapted to fitinto one of the'slots 7 and at such a distance apart that when one is in a slot 7 of one of the sets of slots the other will be in the corresponding slot of the other set occupy as many different transverse positions as there are slots in each set of slots in the box-bottom. The cards may be freely moved longitudinally of the box in these slots without disturbing their transverse positions, and any card may be inserted or removed with facility and without altering the positions of the other cards. The cards will normally occupy a central or middle position in the box, so that when it is desired to direct special attention to one card it may be done by picking it up and placing it in a different pair of slots to set it out to one side or the other of the main body of cards. Thus in a commercial house the balanced transactions of most customers may be noted upon cards placed centrally in the box, while extraordinary conditions, as of advance payment or of arrears or relating to special classes, will be indicated by the setting out of certain cards to expose the ends thereof beyond the outlines established by the body or greater number of cards.

As a means for holding the cards in the box I employa locking-rod 10, which extends between the ends of the box parallel to the sides thereof and just above the cards, near enough to the tops of the cards to prevent them from rising far enough to slip the lugs 9 out of the slots 7 and yet'permitting freedom of move ment longitudinally in the box. This rod is removable or is adapted to swing back to admit of changing or shifting the cards. The rod 10 may be hinged at one end, as by the staple 11, passing through the back 4 and held at the other end by a catch 12. This catch consists ofapairof springs 12 12, fastenedinto a recess 13 in the front 3 of the box and which are bent upward and so formed as to contain and grasp firmly the end of the rod 10, which may be inserted therein and removed therefrom by a slight pressure. When it is desired to remove a card or cards from the box or to insert fresh cards therein, the rod 10 may be lifted from the catch 12 and thrown back out of the way. The cards may then be freely inserted or removed and adjusted, after which the rod will be restored to prevent accidental displacement of the cards. Any convenient catch or rod-locking device may be employed.

A prominent feature of my invention is the employment of a non -perforated card, by means of which the whole surface of the card is available for use. This means a saving as compared to cards adapted for use with an expansible looking-rod of from one to three lines per card, or about three-quarters of an inch saving in the size of the card. The cards are provided with a space for a name and address and with numbered squares for showing at a glance how far from the central position the card has been moved, and also has a number of lines for facilitating writing thereon.

Where the index is used as a reference-list of customers or in other cases where it is desirable to constantly remove and replace the cards, my invention will be found to have distinct advantages over the devices previously employed. A removable locking-rod indicates by but little and an expansible one not at all whether the cards are locked or not, and consequently an attempt is often made to withdraw a card when still locked. A strain coming upon a small portion of the card, a few such attempts, if not the first, will certainly tear the card, and thus renderit useless. Further, the user when hurried will often deliberately tear the card out rather than stop to unlock it, this being especially true in the case of the removable rod, which it takes some time to withdraw. It is well known in large commercial houses that the tearing of the cards from these causes reduces the life of the index of a mere fraction to what it would otherwise be and necessitates frequent renewal thereof at the cost not only of new cards, but of having the cards rewritten, often an item of considerable expense. My invention does away with this difficulty by several means: First, itisimmediately evidentwhether the cards are locked or unlocked; second, the locking device is so simple as to work quickly and without trouble, and, third, in case an attempt should in any manner he made to remove a card when still locked the strain will come upon the whole card, so that it can hardly be torn, and also the lockingrod will immediately be freed by the pressure of the card.

A follower 14 is employed to hold the cards upright and is adapted to be varied in position in accordance with the number of cards in the box. To accomplish this, a pair of 'runways 15 15 are cut in the sides 5 of the box, running parallel to the bottom. A pair of lugs 17 17 on the sides of the follower 14 are adapted to fit loosely into the runways 15. In the bottom of the follower, slightly back of the center, are bored a couple of holes 18 18, each of which contains a spring 19 and the plug 20. The action of this spring is to tilt the follower out of the perpendicular, and thus clamp the arms 17in the runways 15 to hold the follower rigid. To move the follower, it is only necessary to straighten it against the pressure of the springs and slide it to the position desired, where it will be automatically clamped and held.

It will be perfectly evident that any number of slots 7 may be used, that they may be of any size, that the number of lugs9 maybe varied, and that other details maybe changed without departing from the spirit of my invention. Also modifications will suggest themselves to one skilled in the art. Therefore I do not confine myself to the specific constructions herein shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with the box provided with a plurality of parallel slots in its bottom, of the cards of considerably less width than said box and provided with lugs 9 adapted to enter said slots and hold the cards in various transverse positions, substantially as described.

2. In a cross-index, the box provided with a plurality of parallel slots in its bottom, in combination with the cards of less width than the box and each provided with two lugs 9 adapted to enter into certain of said slots and hold the cards against transverse movement in the box, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with the box of cardholding means provided in the bottom thereof, to secure the cards in various transverse positions in the box, while permitting free longitudinal movement thereof and a lockingrod arranged in the top of the box above the cards therein, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the class described, the box provided with two sets of parallel slots in combination with a suitable follower in said box, the cards having depending lugs fitting said slots and adapted to be held in various transverse positions thereby and an overlying locking device provided in the box, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with the box and the relatively narrow cards contained therein, of means for holding said cards in different transverse positions, and a locking-bar adapted to engage the tops of said cards, substantially as described.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination with a box having the grooved bottom 6, of the cards having lugs whereby they are adapted to fit in various transverse positions in and upon said grooved bottom and locking means common to all positions of the cards, substantially as described.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination with the box or tray, provided with a plurality of slots '7, of cards 8 having a less number of lugs than there are slots, adapted to fit into said slots whereby the cards are held in various transverse positions and a longitudinally-extending locking-rod common to the cards in all of said positions, sub stantially as described.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination with the box 2 of the non-perforated cards 8, means to hold said cards in various transverse positions therein, and the locking-rod 10 above said cards, substantially as described.

O. In a device of the class described, the combination with the box 2 having a plurality of slots 7, of the non-perforated cards 8 each having a lug or lugs 9 fitting in said slots whereby said cards are held in various transverse positions, and a locking-rod 10 above said cards hinged at one end and detachably held at the other, substantially as described.

10. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plurality of index-cards provided with lugs upon their edges, with means for holding or retaining said cards in various transverse positions relatively to each other, comprising guides, for engaging the lugs of said cards, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 27th day of February, 1901, at Cleveland, Ohio.

, ROBERT L. HUNTER.

\Vi tn esses:

E. G. BLYE, G. G. GILL. 

